Device for controlling the relative position of rotating elements



April 1934- E. LA CHAPELLE 1,954,323

DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE RELATIVE POSITION OF ROTATING ELEMENTS Filed May 11, 1955 P Sheets-Sheet l grime whom April 1934- E. LA CHAPELLE 1,954,323

DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE RELATIVE POSITION OF ROTATING ELEMENTS Filed May 11, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 swam/Dom Patented Apr. 10, 1934 p ATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE RELATIVE POSITION OF ROTATING ELEMENTS Edmond La Chapelle, Denver, Colo.

Application May 11, 1933, Serial No. 670,503

9 Claims.

operating cams in an internal combustion engine so that the valves will open earlier in their cycle as the speed of the engine increases.

Another object of the invention is to provide a compact governor in connection with the above '15 which will, if desired, prevent the spark cam shaft from being advanced with the valve cam shaft.

A further object of the invention is to provide Y r a governor with the above characteristics which will-occupy but a minimum of space; which will be positive and fully automatic inits operation; and which will be adjustable to remove all lost motion which may be caused by wear or inaccurate manufacture.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawings and throughout the description. 1

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a face view of the automatic governor as it appears when stationary and applied to the extremity of a typical internal combustion engine valve cam shaft.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section therethrough taken on the line 2--2, Fig. 1. a

Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 4 is a face View similar to Fig. 1 except that the component parts are illustrated intheir operative or expanded positions.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of an alternate type of the governor, more particularly for use on spark cam shafts.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the alternate form.

Fig. 7 is a cross section therethrough, taken on the line 7-7, Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a plan view illustrating the alternate form of governor in the expanded position.

It is desirable, in order to obtain the highest efficiency-possible from an internal combustion engine, to have the valves thereof open earlier in their cycle athigh speeds than at low speeds, and to have this time interval of advancement directly proportional to the speed of the engine. One means for accomplishing this is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. In these views, the adjacent portion of an internal combustion engine is indicated at 10 with its valvecam shaft 11 protruding therethrough. The cam shaft is driven from a cam shaft gear 12. It is of course, understood that the shaft 11 carries the cams which operate the intake and exhaust valves of the internal combustion engine.

The gear 12 is rotatably mounted upon the shaft 11 and is free to rotate relative thereto, there being a suitable bearing bushing 13 positioned between the gear and the shaft. A pair of weight studs 14 project forwardly from the face of thegear l2 and hingedly support a pair of governor weights 15 of any desired shape and size. The weights are preferably contoured as shown in Fig. 4, so that, when in the folded position, they will be within the peripheral outline of the gear 12. Each ofthe weights 15 is provided with a projecting extremity herein designated as a weight lever 16. A governor yoke 1'7 is fixedly secured on the extremity of the cam shaft 11. As illustrated, the yoke 17 is secured by means of akey 18 and a clamp nut 19 so thatitmust rotate with the shaft 11. The yoke 17 is preferably H-shaped so that two yoke legs 20 project oppositely outward in parallel relation at each side thereof.

Apair of dog studs 21 also project outwardly from the face of the gear 12 between each pair of legs-zo. A dog 22 ishinged upon each'of the dog studs 21 and extends outwardly therefrom. A compression spring 23 constantly urges each dog away from one of the legs 20 and against theother leg of each pair,.as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Let us assume that the shaft 11 is rotatingin a counter-clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow A, Fig. 4.. The centrifugal action of this rotationtends to throw the weights 15 outwardly. As each weight swings outwardly its weight lever 16 will press against the yoke 17 swinging it counter-clockwise or in the direction of rotation as illustrated in Fig. 4. This swinging motion is of course resisted by the springs 23, since any relative turningof the yoke causes the dogs to move away from their position and compress the springs 23.

Naturally, the more rapidly the shaft 11 is rotating, the greater will be the expansion of the weights 15 and the greater their turning action upon the yoke 17. This accomplishes exactly the results desired, that is, the more rapidly the shaft rotates the more advanced will be the relative position of the shaft 11 as compared with the position of the gear 12. This causes the engine valves to open a proportionate interval in advance as the speed of the engine increases.

The legs 20 act as limiting stops to the relative movement. One leg of each pair will stop the relative movement at the at-rest position of Fig. 1 and the other leg will stop the movement at the extreme advanced position. Any lost motion or play between the weight levers 16 and the yoke arms may be removed by means of adjusting set screws 35, the points of which might be brought into contact with yoke arms. The screws can also be employed to pre-set the initial position of the yoke 17.

In the usual internal combustion engine, the interrupter cam of the ignition system and the distributor arm are driven from the valve cam shaft 11, either by being directly mounted upon this shaft or by being mounted upon a distributor shaft rising vertically therefrom and connected thereto through bevel gears. In such constructions, any relative advancement of the valve cam shaft would result in a similar relative advancement of the spark cam shaft. This is a very desirable result in some cases since the spark should of course occur earlier at high speeds than at low speeds. If, however, it is desired to avoid corresponding advancement of the distributor shaft, an alternate form of the governor previously described may be employed therein in combination with the first form.

The alternate form is shown in Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, in which, the upper extremity of a typical distributor shaft is indicated at 24. A governor plate 25 is fixedly secured to the shaft 24. A governor yoke 26 is rotatably mounted on the extremity of a shaft 24 in close proximity to the plate 25. This yoke is similar to the yoke 17 previously described, and has oppositely extending, parallel legs 27. At its axis the yoke 26 carries the conventional spark cam 27 which operates the breaker contacts and carries the distributor arm of the ignition system. These contacts form no part of the present invention and are not illustrated. They could, if desired, be mounted upon a contact plate substantially in the position indicated in broken line at 29.

As in the previous form a pair of studs 30 project upwardly from the face of the governor plate 25. A dog 31 is hinged upon each of the studs 30. A weight arm 34 extends outwardly from each dog thence swings inwardly terminating in a governor weight 32. The weight arms 34 are relatively thinner than the dogs 31. This allows the dogs to be positioned in between each pair of legs 27 and the weight levers to extend over the top thereof. A compression spring 33 is positioned between each dog and the opposite leg 27, as shown in Fig. 5. These springs tend to hold the dogs fiat against the legs 2'? in the at-rest position of Fig. 5.

' It can be seen that as the shaft 24 is rotating counter-clockwise, as shown in Fig. 8, the weights 32 will be swung outwardly causing the weight levers 31 to actuate the dogs to push against the legs 27. This acts to rotate the yoke 26 clockwise or against the direction of rotation and retard the relative positions of the spark cam 28 with reference to the governor plate 25. This retarding action offsets the advancing action of the previous form so that the valve cam governor will not disturb the spark cam position.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent 1s:

1. The combination with a shaft of a drive member rotatably mounted on said shaft; a governor yoke fixed to said shaft adjacent said drive member; governor weights pivoted on said drive member at each side of said governor yoke; a weight lever projecting from each of said governor weights so that as said weights are swung outwardly, said levers will contact with and contact said yoke, said yoke having bifurcated oppositely extending extremities; dogs pivoted between the furcations of said yoke; springs acting between said dogs and one furcation so as to normally maintain said dogs against the other furcations.

2. In an internal combustion engine a cam shaft drive comprising the combination of: a shaft; a driven gear rotatively mounted on said shaft; a yoke secured on the end of said shaft adjacent said driven gear, said yoke being bifurcated on both ends; pivoted driving dogs mounted on said driven gear between the furcations of said yoke to transmit torsion from said gear to said yoke; eccentrically pivoted Weights mounted on said gear on each side of yoke so that centrifugal force developed in said weights by their rotation with said gear causes them to turn on their pivots and move against said yoke to turn it with reference to said gear; and compression springs to keep said driving dogs in contact with said yoke as it turns with reference to gear.

3. A driving mechanism for a shaft comprising: the combination of a plate loose to rotate on said shaft; a yoke tight on said shaft adjacent said plate; pivoted driving dogs mounted on said plate to contact said yoke and transmit torsion from said yoke to said plate; springs to hold said dogs against said yoke and permit relative movement between yoke and plate; weights pivotally attached to said plate so that centrifugal force developed when the whole assembly rotates will cause said weights to swing on their respective pivots to move said plate with reference to shaft as an axis.

4. A driving mechanism for a shaft comprising: a driven gear rotatably mounted on said shaft; a yoke tight on said shaft adjacent said gear; driving dogs on said gear to contact and turn said yoke; and pivoted weights on said gear to be actuated by centrifugal force to turn on their respective pivots and contact said yoke so as to turn it with reference to gear.

5. A driving device for the timing shafts of internal combustion engines comprising: a gear mounted on, yet free from said shaft; a yoke fixed on said shaft; dogs transmitting torsion from said gear to said yoke; springs holding said dogs in contact with said yoke; and eccentrically pivoted Weights mounted on said gear to contact said yoke and turn it with reference to said gear when centrifugal force is generated in said weights by rotation of said gear.

6. A driving mechanism for a cam shaft comprising: a gear loose on said shaft; a yoke tight on said shaft; driving dogs on said gear; springs holding said dogs against said yoke; and centrifugally actuated weights on said gear to swing against said yoke and turn said shaft in said gear.

7. Means for automatically changing the valve action of an internal combustion engine in relation to the engine speed comprising: a valve cam shaft; a gear loosely mounted on said shaft; a yoke mounted tightly on said shaft in close proximity to said gear; driving dogs mounted on said gear to engage said yoke and transmit torsion from said gear thereto; and centrifugally actuated Weights mounted on said gear to swing against and rotate said yoke and its shaft in said gear.

8. Means for automatically and independently advancing and retarding the timing of the spark and valve action of an internal combustion engine comprising: a cam shaft; a gear loosely mounted on said cam shaft; a yoke tightly mounted on said cam shaft adjacent said gear, said yoke being bifurcated on both of its extremities; driving dogs pivotally mounted on said gear between the furcations of said yoke; springs to hold said dogs against said yoke; and weights pivotally mounted on said gear adjacent said yoke to swing against the latter by centrifugal force, and rotate it with its shaft in said gear.

9. Means for automatically changing the relative positions of rotating elements in proportion to the speed of their rotation comprising the combination of: a driven gear; a shaft rotatively held in said gear; a yoke tight on said shaft; dogs secured on said gear to transmit torsion from gear to said shaft; and Weights pivoted on said gear to swing with centrifugal force against said yoke to rotate it with reference to the said gear in proportion to the speed of rotation of the gear.

EDMOND LA CHAPELLE. 

